Page 21 of Empty Heat
It seemed my heart had stopped. “I wished to be open from the beginning. I didn’t make this decision.”
“I—I don’t care.” Callum bowed his head. “I need to understand this. Am I wrong to be upset? This just another treatment plan! I thought everything here was open and honest. I thought I had consent!”
“You do. And yes, it was part of a treatment plan. But I disagreed with it. I went along with it and I should not have.”
“Is my meeting with Soren even real this afternoon? Is he still my surrogate?”
“If you agree to it, yes.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To help ease your mind so that you might see you’re able to be comfortable around alphas.”
“But now I’m very uncomfortable. So that totally backfired.”
I winced, lowering my head.
Callum stood with his arms limp, looking helpless. “Now what do I do?”
“Would you have wanted to meet me if you knew I was another therapist walking by? Or if you knew I was a surrogate?”
He rubbed at his forehead. “I don’t know. No. Probably not. But now I’m just confused.”
“I knew this would happen. I told them when they sprung the plan on me. I’m so sorry, Callum. You must believe me. I won’t lie to you again.”
“You won’t get the chance.” He turned away. “I don’t want to see you.”
He was so lost. So alone.
“All right. That’s your call.” I turned. “But I can’t leave you out here alone. Please, let me take you back to Rhodes.”
“Rhodes,” he muttered. “He was in on it, too.”
“Please. I can’t leave you out here alone when you’re upset like this.”
“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” he said. “I’m just trying to figure this out!”
“Yes. I know. Just please walk back to your cabin with me.” My heart sat like a weight in my chest.
He faced me again, looking up with the saddest face. “I’m not some insane omega, you know, who needs to be coddled and tricked. I’m just me. I came here to deal with all this and now—now I think everyone’s misunderstood. I work with alphas, you know. It’s not like I can’t talk to them or run screaming if they approach me. I just don’t date them. I wanted a normal life. And now I feel like I came to the wrong place.”
“I agree with everything you’re saying. One hundred percent. I will not come around anymore, okay? I wish I could go back and tell them more firmly I didn’t like the team’s plan. I wish I could make it all up to you. But I can’t. You’re right, Callum. You’re just someone who came here looking for help. You did not deserve to be treated as if you were so breakable.”
He took a step toward me. A small sob escaped his lips. “Maybe I am. I don’t know. But that was what I thought I was going to find out. You and Rhodes were helping. You were!” Another sob.
“All right.” My instinct was to put my arm around him, but I’d never had that right. “Let’s go back. I’ll make a report. The team will have to get this sorted. If you want Rhodes to leave as well, that will be your decision.”
“It’s not right!” His voice was strangled. “I liked you both. I trusted you both!”
I pulled out my phone and swiped it to Rhodes’ number to text him for help.
“What are you doing?” Callum’s voice was loud, accusing. “Don’t call anyone. Don’t. Just give me a minute, okay?”
“I was just going to ask Rhodes to come.”
“No!” He took a deep breath through his nose. “Just wait a minute. Wait a minute!” He turned back toward the shimmering ocean view and held his hand up from his waist. “Wait!”
I stood very still, a couple steps behind him. My mind raced with conflict. I was angry at my superiors. At myself. At the same time my heart was breaking for this man because in two short days I’d grown uncommonly fond of him. My chest ached.
